This footbridge was designed and built with EU Northern
Periphery Programme (NPP) funding as part of the ‘Design
with Pine’ project run by the multi-agency funded Highland
Birchwoods. The ultimate client was SNH and the bridge is
located at the beginning of woodland and mountain trails
leading from a car park on Loch Maree within the Beinn Eighe
National Nature Reserve in Wester Ross.

innovative
engineering

As its name suggests, the project aims were to promote the
use of home-grown Scots pine in a variety of new and
innovative structures and buildings in Scotland. This project
offered an opportunity to put into practice and further develop
experience gained by North Woods in a previous EU funded
NPP project into roundwood and timber-concrete composites.
The bridge may be the only one of its structural type in
Scotland and we are grateful to John Sinclair of Allen Gordon
engineering for his collaboration in this unusual and
provocative structure.

home-grownScots pine

Eight metre long Scots pine beams were milled by James
“Sage” Nairn on site at Cawdor Estate in Nairn on a
Woodmizer. In order to avoid felling more trees than were
necessary for the job, standing trees were sonically strength
graded by Elspeth MacDonald of Forest Research. Eight beams
were screw laminated into two larger beams and put into place
across new concrete parapets. Permanent timber shuttering
was laid between the two beams and concrete poured over
them while they were propped from below. Steel pins resin-grouted
into the timber beam prior to the pour, lock the slip
plane between the timber and concrete giving an immensely
strong and durable structure. A superficial timber deck was
placed over the concrete at SNH’s request but could be
eliminated for economy and durability in different
circumstances.

design for deconstruction
and
maintenance

The superstructure is also all in Scots pine but the smaller
sections allowed use of local timber from Leckmelm Wood.
Each of the handrails and posts are screw laminated from two
members which are then joined by steel flitch plates. Indeed
every individual member of the balustrade is removable
independently for maintenance or eventual replacement giving
the bridge a potentially exceptionally long life. The timber
“arch” gives the bridge a certain presence in the landscape
which its predecessor lacked and the choice of colour gives an
echo of birch bark and the subdued natural tones of this
northern landscape.